Duplex I feel for you. I thought the same thing. But it’s only a few short minutes into Duplex when you realize just how wrong you were. Two things clue you in to the lackluster experience to come. First is an animated pre-credits sequence that shows a cartoon Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore haplessly looking […]
Dungeons & Dragons You know you’re in big trouble when halfway through a movie you ask yourself, “What would be better? Sitting through the rest of this garbage or receiving a scratch to the retina?” Ultimately, the question is moot, since both are examples of ocular mayhem. The impulse as you sit through Dungeons &
Horns and Halos (2002) It’s the story of James Hatfield, the author of a book called Fortunate Son, a biography (the first) of pre-presidential George W. Bush. Meant to be a quickie “clip job,” written by quoting sources secondhand through previously published articles on Bush, Hatfield ended up turning in something a little different. The
The Hulk Months before The Hulk director Ang Lee announced he’d rely solely on CGI to create his colossal star, fanboys from Portland to Poughkeepsie worried about how the not so jolly green giant would look on screen. Early trailers fuelled speculation that Hulk would resemble Shrek, which made dedicated Hulk a maniacs very angry.
Human Nature If nothing else, writer Charlie Kaufman has created a style of comedy all his own. He is one of the very few screenwriters able to distinctly stamp his unmistakable personality on a film. Much like his previous Being John Malkovich, Kaufman again has his script brought to the big screen by a music
The Hustler The Hustler has always stood out as not just a great movie about the con game, but as a great movie, period. Paul Newman’s study of a pool hustler who goes through the highest highs and the lowest lows is so dazzling that an hour will go by before you look at the
I Am Sam (2001) What defines a parent? Is it the amount of intellectual maturity displayed or the level of love given? Such is the question posed in I Am Sam. In the film, Sam Dawson (Sean Penn) is a mentally challenged single father raising his daughter Lucy (Dakota Fanning). Sam is a sweet, good
I Capture the Castle (2003) Movies teach us the power of love. Reality, quickly and without apology, demonstrates its limitations. Rarely does a film show us the flipside, but I Capture the Castle is that special exception. Based on Dodie Smith’s novel, I Capture the Castle gives us a 17 year old named Cassandra (Romola
I Stand Alone (1998) Gaspar Noé’s harrowing and misanthropic story has an aging butcher as he wanders through life just out of jail, unemployed, and looking for trouble in the city he utterly hates. Paris. He can’t get work, and quickly becomes broke the classic “from bad to worse” situation. Fortunately, he’s got a gun
Ice Age (2002) Ice Age is in many ways the archetypal animated flick updated for the computer era, of course. It’s a road trip populated by quirky and mismatched characters, all on an unlikely quest that they’ll never complete unless they somehow manage to work together. Ray Romano voices a burly mammoth named Manfred, who
